Restaurant Trente-Trois — Restaurant in Paris

#68th if you follow my Michelin Stars Marathon in Paris. Better than a Palace, an Hôtel Particulier.

As usual, I’ll try to focus on the things that stand out to limit the length of the review. First, the context: Hôtel Particulier. When you think that 5 Stars palaces are for the masses, or that you’re just too famous to go in a normal hotel, you may opt for an Hotel Particulier. It’s basically a palace level but on a smaller scale, and more private. Interestingly the management decided that their clients deserved a one star restaurant for breakfast or when they were too lazy to eat out… et voilà! This is how you get to set foot in this very exclusive place. What does it mean for you? You have access to a sublime restaurant in a luxurious and yet private setting. It’s brand new (if you remove the lock down part) so both brigades are not yet complete and therefore settled. It shouldn’t take long, especially since it’s really for the happy few with just 6 tables or so. So basically, you’ll be amongst the first to enjoy this.

Ok, I’m hearing you telling me « Fine, we’ll be with superstars and so on, but what about the food? ». Funny you should ask, that the second point. Palaces restaurants have a difficult and nearly impossible challenge: how to please an international crowd with such diverse palate? Well, here the chef decided to go in a very flavorous direction. It’s very tasteful, pleasant and yet elegant. Actually, l oiseau blanc had the same thinking. I personally think it’s great. You need a bit of courage to do so. I’m saying this because the chef is playing a little bit with acidity to enhance some flavors. It’s beautiful. But some palates from some regions of the world might not be used to this. Actually, I asked, and indeed I was told that some clients were a bit surprised. Dear readers, no worries. If you’re here, reading this, my educated guess is that you’ll enjoy his cuisine, as balancing the acidity is a sign of the great Michelin Star chef. Here it’s done with elegantly. If you doubt, ask the staff, they are really helpful and knowledgeable. Personally, I loved it.

My experience: A great find that I’ve been bragging about to my friends. I’ll come with the big car with my darling or even with another couple to enjoy the smaller dining room and be treated like superstars.

Update 2022: Enjoyed it so much that I went back a second time in less than a year. It was slightly more « gourmand » (tasteful) than the last time but more importantly, the menu was updated so I did not have the same thing as last time. I really need to come for dinner and book the big table. Actually, I would recommend to do so if you’re a group of 5 or more. It’s a solid one star, and still is a quiet secret place on the...

Amazing experience overall. The place is a small charming and elegant room with just 6 tables; that was already a surprise. Very personalized service (thanks to the staff, impeccable). I wanted the 6 course menu but both of us neede to order the same; therefore we went for the 4 course one. The high note of the evening was the Eggplant plate; one of the best things I've ever tried. The result was just incredible, the flavors, presentation, 10/10. There was no wine paring, which was an interesting option if you dont want to spend the same value of a menu just in wine. Selection was a bit small, but worked pretty well for the different courses. The main dishes (imperial pigeon and fish) were a bit "shy", mostly after trying the best plate in the menu (Eggplant). Finally, the lowest point on the menu was the dessert (Grand Cru coffee). For a Michelin restaurant, I was expecting something more creative or different; a "chocolate brownie" with ice and coffee foam is something you find in many mainstream restaurants. I would recommend going for the Apricot dessert; was fresher, better in taste and had more interesting flavors. Also, the choclate preparation was quite dry; so a bit disappointing. Luckily, I am not a dessert person and valued the rest of the menu way more, and loved it. Kudos to Chef Sebastien and his whole team. Would...

It is very difficult to write this review and I have been thinking about our "experience" for a few days. When I book at a Michelin restaurant, I immediately think of an over the top experience, be it the service, the food, presentation and the atmosphere. Unfortunately, my wife and I were underwhelmed after our dinner on Tuesday. We ordered the four course dinner with wine pairings. Everything was good, we certainly don't mind small portions as we don't like leaving a restaurant stuffed. The wine was excellent although in this case I felt the quantity really was not sufficient for what we paid. Each pour was very small and we certainly could have had more. When I asked, it was not offered, even if there was an extra charge. The service was attentive although my wife commented to me that it looked like they were learning on the job. There certainly did seem to be some confusion. Several years ago we ate at another Michelin restaurant in Naranno, Italy. We are still talking about the overall experience today. I couldn't tell you what we ate or drank, other than we were in awe of the experience. Unfortunately, we were not in awe of our experience at your establishment as we expected a lot more. We were in Paris for a week and had some extraordinary dinners and yours should have been at the top of the list. It...